I thought I start a tread on how to do maintenance on your locomotives. I am working on a MTL GP35, but they are basically the same. First, remove the shell and take the chassis apart. Yes, it’s a complete tear down.
This is maintenance for a ES44. The locomotives lost its traction tire, to replace it, I did a complete tear down.
Try to get rid of all that fell like grease. That will slow down the locomotive. This is how the motor makes contact with the board.
Nice job refurbishing the metal contact strip. I don't have any of the ES44s, but I've had lots of problems trying to reseat that strip for the GP9/38s after it comes out, any tips on getting it to go back in with minimal fuss? Also, I've had very bad luck with AZL's 3 axle trucks as they seem to just fall apart and lose all ability to stay assembled once removed from the frame. How do you keep them in one piece?
First, you have to see what you are doing. The GP38 frame has four notches to keep the power pickup in place. Try to keep them centered, and do it without the trucks.
It’s not easy to insert the pickup’s into the slots, but I try to align it as close as I can. I use a small jeweler flathead screwdriver to push it in without too much force and slowly. My six wheel axles don’t fall apart when I take them out of the chassis, but I take them apart to clean them anyways. This one just need the top portion to finish the rebuild.